


Sweet Tooth

by Natsumiya_Teirin



Category: Natsume Yuujinchou | Natsume's Book of Friends
Genre: F/M, Gen, M/M, Multi, Natsume Takashi Protection Squad, Natsume Takashi's Terrible Childhood, Other, Youkai Natsume Reiko
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-22
Updated: 2020-02-09
Packaged: 2021-03-09 11:07:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 533
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21897382
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Natsumiya_Teirin/pseuds/Natsumiya_Teirin
Summary: Natsume Reiko watches her grandson silently, well aware of his struggles. But it isn't until his spiritual power is more developed that she can actually help.Reiko knows well what it's like to live without love.Alone.Unwanted.She'd never wish that fate on anyone- especially Takashi.
Relationships: Natsume Reiko & Natsume Takashi, Natsume Takashi & Everyone, Natsume Takashi & Youkai
Comments: 4
Kudos: 82





	1. Mirror

It's like looking into a mirror. 

He looks just like her- same amber eyes, same silver hair (though typical humans would see them as brown and blond respectively) and the same sort of background. 

Parents died when he was young, so he was tossed around from house to house by people who could never do enough to help him. It was a story she knew all too well. 

She watches as her descendant- so like her but so much kinder than she'd ever been in life- accidentally frees Madara from his seal, and considers her choices. 

Takashi is abused and hurt and selfless and kind, and it will be so much harder for him once he realizes the truth of The Book. 

Something must be done to protect him. 

But she could never bring herself to break him- not when the rest of her family had already tried. 

But perhaps, maybe....

The Days-Eater could help.


	2. Greed and Temperance

Even among youkai, Reiko is special. Her power is so strong, she can conceal herself even from high ranking youkai like Madara. Or in this case, a day-eater. 

So she stalks around the overgrown rice field and waits until nightfall to make her presence known. 

The youkai doesn't seem surprised at all by her sudden appearance, so she cuts right to the chase. 

"Hey. I need you to do me a favor. It's for someone important to me." 


	3. Seven-Twenty-Five

It was terribly tricky to arrange, even with help. It was thanks to a couple gods that they could even pull it off, and Reiko felt somewhat lucky that her grandson was so unaware of his effect on the local spirits. 

A powerful localized memory-manipulation spell, just enough so no one would notice anything amiss. 

A spell to rewind time, modified to deage a person to a certain point while retaining certain, specific memories. 

And finally, a barrier around the town to keep history from repeating itself.

* * *

Fujiwara Touko did her very best to provide for her family, small as it was. 

On a typical day, she'd wake up at five thirty on the dot. Then, she'd prepare breakfast and lunch for Shigeru, and they'd kill time until he left for work. 

It was instinctive by now- a firm alarm point on her biological clock. Any deviation from this typically meant the day ahead would be somehow abnormal. 

So when she woke up at exactly 7:25 in the morning, Fujiwara Touko knew something was afoot. It took her a moment to remember just what was going on. 

Shigeru had returned from a distant relative's funeral and found a boy who had no one else. 

So he offered to take him in. 

With a start, Touko sat up and threw off the covers. Still in her nightclothes, she quickly padded over to the formerly-spare room just down the hall and slid the door open.

As she caught sight of the small figure lying silently on the futon, she let out a breath she wasn't aware she'd been holding. With a small smile, somehow thankful that she hadn't dreamt up the events of the last couple days, Touko quietly slid the door closed and made her way downstairs. 

It was sunday.


End file.
